Tom Humphrey: Major differences in 2002 state shutdown, national debacle

The partial federal government shutdown of recent weeks has been likened by some Tennesseans to a partial state government shutdown back in 2002, but it is submitted there were some fairly dramatic differences.

"Over ten years ago when our state faced a budget crisis, state parks in key legislative districts were closed. This was a last ditch effort by liberals to scare Tennesseans into supporting higher taxes," declared a letter sent by Republican state senators to President Barack Obama voicing "extreme displeasure" with "this so-called shutdown."

"Just like the old tax and spenders in Tennessee, the Obama administration hopes to intimidate opponents of Obamacare into capitulating and selling out their constituents — constituents who want the Affordable Care Act repealed and replaced," the letter declared.

Similarly, former state Sen. David Fowler, a Republican from Signal Mountain who had a small but pivotal role in resolving the state stalemate and now is president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, penned a reminiscence piece including this statement:

"As in Washington, Tennessee's Democratic legislative leaders, who controlled the flow of legislation at the state Capitol, would not let a budget get to the floor of the state House or Senate that would reduce spending or raise revenue by a means other than an income tax. It was income tax or the highway.

"So a majority of the legislature, us little guys, said to the leadership: ‘We're taking the next exit ramp off your one-way street.' And state government essentially ground to a halt for several days."

The Tennessee semi-shutdown of 2002 indeed came because the Legislature, which then had a Democratic majority, could not agree on a state budget. In that respect, there is some similarity with the more recent federal shutdown caused by disagreement over financing government operations. Both were inspired by money matters.

Some state parks were shuttered for a while back in the Tennessee melee; federal parks were shuttered for a while in the recent federal fiasco. In both cases, there were harsh exchanges over the political motivation — or lack thereof — in bringing parks, and various other stuff, into the picture.

And there are certainly other such tidbits of similarity. But maybe only one big one — both caused a split in Republican ranks. Otherwise, the differences were dramatic.

Omitted in the Republican senators' letter and Fowler's reminiscence is the simple fact that Republican Gov. Don Sundquist led the push for enactment of an overhaul of state taxes that would produce enough new revenue to balance a state budget. He proposed slashing the state's sales tax, including all sales taxes on groceries, and replacing the lost revenue — plus some extra — with a state income tax.

A clear bipartisan majority of lawmakers agreed some new revenue was needed. Some Republican legislators backed their governor on how to get it; most did not. Most Democrats backed the other party's governor; some did not. There was bipartisanship from the outset.

In the current federal flap, bipartisanship reared its head only fairly late in the game and on a more limited basis than in those Tennessee days of old — the efforts notably including those of Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, who once served as Sundquist's finance commissioner.

Opposing a state income tax was the focal point of Tennessee's turmoil. Opposing Obamacare was the focal point of the recent federal fuming.

But the biggest difference of all was in the outcome.

In Tennessee, Republicans united with a handful of Democrats in voting for the biggest tax increase in the state's history — $1 billion of new revenue derived from raising the general state sales tax, corporate income taxes, alcohol and tobacco taxes, etc. Supporters included today's two top legislative leaders — House Speaker Beth Harwell and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey.

They then proclaimed victory because the state income tax was killed. In the dozen years since, the resulting revenue has been used to balance the state books, and it seems voters have either forgiven or forgotten that big tax increase as the GOP has risen to supermajority status.

Congressional Republicans of today did not kill Obamacare, and any claims of victory are decidedly hollow. Instead of resolving the nation's fiscal problems for next decade, Congress has kicked the crisis can down road for three months or so.

The Tennessee melee was not pretty. But from outset to outcome, it is submitted that our mess was not nearly as bad as the Washington mess.